Cities

New York City, NY

New York · Mid-Atlantic

Entry Free to visit

Scale 8.5M residents

Est. 1624

Season Apr-Jun, Sep-Oct

Five boroughs, one subway card, and more good food per block than most countries manage.

Getting there

JFK is the main international gateway; the AirTrain plus subway reaches Manhattan in about an hour. Most of the city needs nothing but a MetroCard and shoes.

Don't miss

Statue of Liberty - dedicated in 1886, crown reached by ferry from the Battery
Ellis Island - part of the same national monument unit as the statue
The Battery - Manhattan's ferry point for Liberty and Ellis islands

Best time to go

April to June and September to October. Museums and the Statue of Liberty are the rainy-day fallbacks.

Nearby

Brooklyn Hudson Valley Philadelphia

Costs and seasons change

Fees and visitor figures are taken from the National Park Service pages for this park; re-check nps.gov before you book. The planning copy is ours.

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Before you go

Do I need a reservation to visit the big parks?

Not at the time of writing. Yosemite dropped its timed-entry system, Grand Canyon states there is no timed entry, and Yellowstone does not require a vehicle reservation. Acadia is the exception: Cadillac Summit Road needs a $6 vehicle reservation between 20 May and 25 October 2026.

What does the $35 entrance fee actually cover?

One private vehicle and everyone inside it, for the park's stated period: seven days at Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Acadia, one to seven days at Zion. Motorcycles pay $30 and walkers or cyclists pay $20 per person.

Is there a surcharge for international visitors?

Yes. Each park page states that non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an additional $100 each, unless they hold an America the Beautiful annual pass or an annual park pass. It is per person, not per vehicle.